Women's Literacy in Kenya: Are We on Track to Achieving Education For All (EFA)?

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Women's literacy in Kenya
Are we on track to achieving Education For All (EFA)?
17-Feb-18
(Student Details: )

Women's literacy in Kenya
Introduction
Education is an enlightening experience whereby the systematic instructions are given at the
teaching place. Through the use of techniques like training, teaching, directed research,
storytelling and discussions, the individuals are taught about different things, which help in their
overall development (Moss, 2011). An education person is not only able to grow themselves, but
is also able to reciprocate the growth in others, and this is particularly true in context of women.
It has documented the evidence regarding the female education being amongst the most
significant forces for the development. There have been common views that the educated
mothers are able to raise a better, smaller and healthier family, and can be more productive in
their homes, and also in their workplaces (Hill and King, 1995).
Even though women form half of mankind, they are two thirds in terms of illiterates of the world
(Mackenzie, 1993). This is the reason why a higher number of males, in comparison to females,
continue to go to school and climb the educational ladder in the less industrialized economies of
Africa, which includes Kenya (Mueller, 1990). Africa has around 64% illiterate women; and
Kenya has more than sixty percent of women as illiterates (Republic of Kenya, 1988). Owing to
the structural adjustment programmes, the situation has remained more or less the same since
late 1980’s. This has been coupled with budget cuts over the year in education, which has
resulted in the education of women and girls being affected in an adverse manner. The majority
of societies across the globe have a preference of educating the boys in comparison to the girls
and this is true for the poor families (Kibera, 2002).
Education For All is a global commitment which aims to provide quality basic education to all
the adults, youth and the children. Amongst the 164 governments which pledged to attain the
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Education For All movement, six goals had to be met by 2015 (UNESCO, 2018). Included in
these nations was Kenya also but despite the efforts of the government of the nation, it continues
to experience a number of challenges in attaining this. There are a number of reasons why there
is still a difficulty before Kenya in attaining the goals of Education For All movement. These
include high poverty levels, the gender disparities, the inadequate financial resources, teacher
supply and quality, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic (Wanjohi, 2013).
The key focus of this discussion is on analysing the gender disparity which is present in the
education system of Kenya, with a particular focus on the secondary education for girls. In doing
so, the reasons for, or the challenges faced by the nation in achieving the objectives of the
Education For All movement would be discussed. In doing so, the theories like modernisation
under the framework of women in development, and the capability approach under
empowerment would be focused upon, to highlight the need for removing the gender disparity in
the education system of Kenya, particularly to bring literacy to the women.
Two frameworks
Modernisation under the framework of women in development and Capability
approach under empowerment
The modernization and the empowerment of the women relates to the transformation of the
stance of women in the society. In context of modernization, the women have to be given equal
opportunities, gender parity, and also equality in resources (Chowdry, 2015). However, when the
education in Kenya in context of women is analysed, it becomes clear that there is no gender
parity and the women are not given equal opportunities in both primary and secondary education.
“Women in development” is focused on providing modernisation, where equal opportunity is
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provided, irrespective of the gender. However, in attaining the employment for all, this is not
done in Kenya as of yet. Even though the timeline of 2015 has already passed, there continues to
be a lack in gender parity, particularly due to the factors stated above, for instance poverty and
the pandemic of HIV/AIDS.
In context of empowerment, the capability approach requires that equality in capability is given.
Even though the children have no specific capability in the growing years, they do have the
capacity of shaping their capabilities (Moghadam, 2007). So, this framework requires the girls in
secondary education to be empowered as is done with the ones in primary education, so that they
can get equality in their capabilities. This would in turn allow them to earn better and be saved
from the vicious circle of poverty. Again, the discussion covered earlier shows the utter failure in
this happening in Kenya, as the girls are not empowered enough to get equal capabilities. The
lack of education results in them not getting the requisite skill set to earn for them, or to sustain
them.
Basically, the present situation in Kenya of the girl literacy in secondary education neither
follows the framework of modernization not that of the capability approach. The girls do not
have equal opportunities which could in turn empower them to get the capability for getting the
skills to have a better future. Even though in the last decade, significant progress has been made
by Kenya in education, which has resulted in primary education enrolment having gender parity,
and almost parity at secondary level; though, the data depicts that gender parity simply does not
result in universal access to primary education being attained, as the enrolment in secondary
education continues to be low for both genders, particularly for females. This is a key concern
for girls as the data shows that more than half of secondary school age girls do not get enrolled in
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secondary education (UNESCO, 2012b). This again shows the lack of adherence to the
frameworks of empowerment and modernization.
Gender inequality
Before focusing on the gender inequality being present in the education segment of secondary
education in Kenya, there is a need to highlight the gender inequality at all levels. At present,
there is gender inequality in disparity of prestige and power status in between the men and
women. Even though in recent past, there has been an empowerment of women in the nation due
to their capabilities, and an improvement in employment and education segment for women, the
nation is still curbed by gender inequality. The reason of this is in the women being considered
as less capable of carrying certain tasks. For instance, the status of women in labour force
continues to be undermined, and there is a wage gap in between the two genders. Even when the
women are capable, they are not given the top position due to the assumption of them being
focused on their personal and family obligations. Unmarried women are not given top
management position due to them getting married in future and being deemed to be unable to
handle work and family. The perceptions of the society in Kenya are not positive towards the
women. There is also the stance of girls being a liability on parents and the boys being the bread
earners for family. These perceptions of the society lay waste to the concepts of empowerment
and capability.
Present State in education
Education is the key tool for the overall development of any nation. Education is also the basic
and the fundamental right of every child. In order to grow as individuals and even as the society,
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it is critical for the development, as the education paves way for productive and successful
future. Where it is made certain that the child has the access to the right based and the quality
education, which has its roots in gender equality, a ripple effect for opportunities is created,
which has the impact on the generations to follow. In this regard, there is a need to consider the
statements made by the visionary Ghanaian educator, James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey (October
18, 1875 – July 30, 1927), where he stated that the surest manner of keeping the people down
was by educating the males and by neglecting the females. It was further stated that where a man
is educated, an individual is educated simply; however, where a woman is educated, an entire
family is educated (Thody, 2000). Wamahiu (2011) had reciprocated these sentiments while
speaking on educating the girls as being a key aspect for bettering Kenya. He stated that by
educating a girl, an entire nation could be educated. There is no shortage of evidence to show
that the education of women is not only beneficial at the nation level, but also at the personal,
family and the community level (MoE, 2007).
Universal education has been a key part of Education For All movement, and an important
Millennium Development Goal, along with being the foundation for national development. In
view of Tembon and Fort (2008), educating women is an effective tool for the purpose of
national development, as the developing nations cannot simply afford to ignore the talent and the
skill held by half of their citizens. The fact of the matter is that education of women is amongst
the most valuable investment for any nation. The reason for this is that the women account for
nearly half of the population of the world. The learning assessment conducted in Kenya by
UWEZO (2010) in seventy districts confirmed that the literacy and the numeracy competencies
of children were raised with the level of formal schooling of their mothers (Wamahiu, 2011).
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